1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for manually introducing medication and other materials into gelatin capsules, and especially to such devices for use in a home or hospice setting where limited production is acceptable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Filling capsules with medication is generally accomplished using machines for mass production, or hand-filling techniques for more limited quantities. A special difficulty arises when it is desirable to fill a few capsules at a time, such as for home treatment of one or two patients. The difficulty may be compounded if a patient is unable to control swallowing, and cannot take medication orally. In this latter case the only way to administer medication may be rectally, by means of capsules.
Prescription medicines often are dispensed in tablet form; if the patient cannot swallow tablets they can be broken up or crushed, placed in capsules, and administered rectally. Because it is preferable for the patient to receive the medication in as few capsules as possible, a method of overfilling the capsules is desirable. Overfilling is accomplished by introducing medication into both the capsule body and the cap, so that the capsules contain a greater quantity of medication and fewer capsules are needed.
Another problem with filling a few capsules manually is wasted medication; the process is difficult to accomplish without spillage and waste, and requires considerable dexterity to accomplish at all. Therefore a need exists for a device to facilitate filling capsules with medication a few at a time, and which allows filling both body and cap of the capsules with the maximum possible quantity of medication.
Of the patents listed below, Austin discloses a capsule-filling machine for large-scale production. Sundberg discloses a capsule handling system for filling several dozen capsules at once. Hayashi, et al. disclose a device having rotating plates with cam-operated means for positioning, filling, and closing the capsules. Similarly, Inman discloses an arrangement of rotating plates with a chamber for dispensing powdered medication into capsule bodies held in openings in a lower plate.
The following patents were developed by a pre-examination search, and are here listed for consideration by the Examiner:
______________________________________ Patent Number Issue Date Patentee ______________________________________ 3,552,095 Jan. 5, 1971 Inman 3,554,412 Jan. 12, 1971 Hayashi, et al. 3,675,390 Jul. 11, 1972 Austin 5,321,932 Jun. 21, 1994 Sundberg ______________________________________